Ice fishing is a popular winter past time in northern climates. Ice fishing is the activity of catching fish through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water such as a lake, river, or pond. Ice houses, also known as ice shanties in some locations, are small shelters that are used to protect an ice angler from the elements including wind and blowing snow. Typically, an ice house includes room for one to six anglers and their gear. Some ice houses are more permanent structures, and are towed to their location using a vehicle such as a truck or four-wheeler. Other ice shelters are portable and can be easily moved by the anglers themselves and quickly set-up at different locations. Various ice house structures mounted on sleds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,239,247, 6,397,870 and U.S. Patent Publication No. US2006/0238005, which are hereby incorporated by reference.
In order to quickly assemble and take-down the frame of a portable ice house, the ice angler must typically remove their gloves to improve dexterity and to avoid getting pieces of their gloves caught in the frame assembly. Even with gloves removed anglers often find it difficult to operate latch mechanisms that are coated with ice and snow or frozen.